Has there been a long period of oppression against Christians in Egypt? For sure. In fact, while many of us are preparing to celebrate Christmas at the end of this week, yet another bombing incident has rocked the Coptic Church in Egypt to dampen the festive mood in that ancient country. Earlier this Sunday, St. Mark’s Orthodox Coptic Church was bombed -- and this proved to be one of the most severe attacks to date since Mohamed Morsi was overthrown from his position.
It was just close to a year ago that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi publicly showed off his support to the Coptic Christian community, as el-Sisi attended Mass at St. Mark’s Orthodox Coptic Church. That was certainly a watershed moment, a symbolic act which proved to the world that el-Sisi himself, a former Army general, intends to mend the broken bridges that are in the country. With Christians being the minority, numbering a mere 10 million, certainly a move like this is to be lauded, as there are 70 million Muslim brethren in Egypt.
Unfortunately, there are extremists out there in Egypt who would like nothing better than to wreak havoc on the Coptic community in Egypt, and this particular group was also the same one behind the bombing of St. Mark’s earlier this Sunday. Apparently, members of the Brotherhood as well as different groups of Muslim extremists have Coptic Christians in their crosshairs during the Christmas season, as this is when Coptic Christians come out en masse to attend church -- which makes them a whole lot more vulnerable.
Aid to the Church in Need, a Vatican agency, recently released a report that mentioned how the situation for the Coptic Christians over in Egypt has seen some improvement ever since el-Sisi took over, it is still far from being a walk in the park as this vulnerable group of people continue to face discrimination everywhere they are -- be it a the workplace or even in social settings, and of course, persecution.
David Curry, executive director of Open Doors USA, shared, "A few years ago there was a massive attack that destroyed hundreds of Coptic churches and homes. But the attack this past weekend has been one of the more deadly attacks in recent times. It's difficult to know the motivation of the attackers, but we often see an increase in attacks in this region around the Christmas season. It is when Christians are most vulnerable. The number of Christians visiting churches spikes as they flock to honor this holy day."
ISIS claimed responsibility for the bombing on Sunday, and while 25 people were killed, ISIS mentioned that the attack managed to kill as well as injure 80 people while pressing on "to continue war against apostates." We are comforted that el-Sisi has been quoted to condemn these nefarious attacks, as well as providing a strong verbal warning against the Muslim Brotherhood for all of their past attempts to tear the nation apart from acts of terror. This show of solidarity with the Coptic community is definitely an encouraging one to say the least. We stand with our Coptic brothers and sisters this Christmas season, offering our prayers for their safety and perseverance in the faith.
